It was a bad idea to begin with. It was an even worse idea after a jury found TFG liable for sexual abuse and defamation in the E. Jean Carroll case. Yet CNN decided to go through with its planned Trump Town Hall last night anyway.

I was going to take one for the team and watch it in case anything newsworthy happened. I decided it was better for my blood pressure to watch the new Muppets Mayhem show. But, as long as the cursed Twitter platform continues to exist, I continue to scroll through its madness. Thankfully, I didn’t have to watch it to know how people felt about what was being said.

A small handful of drooling idiots (including conservative It Boy Tim Pool, and Dinesh D’Souza) thought TFG “killed it.” By “it,” I assume they mean truth and decorum. The rest of Twitter was thoroughly disgusted, not only by what Trump had to say but also with CNN as an organization for allowing him the platform to say all of it, and to do so in front of a raucous, Trump-friendly audience.

I didn’t watch the Trump infomercial on CNN. But everything I have seen tweeted about it describes it as such. #CNNTownhall pic.twitter.com/gyTw6R18Ol

— Kate (@SuperSinistral) May 11, 2023

They used to call shows pretending to be informative TV but really just selling crap "infomercials."

This #CNNTownhall is a "disinfomericial."

I've seen enough. I'm out.

— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@BettyBowers) May 11, 2023

A standing ovation for Trump from GOP voters in NH as he walks on stage for the CNN townhall.

A frickin standing ovation for a twice impeached, insurrection inciting, serial sexual abuser.

The GOP is irreparable.

— Tara Setmayer 🌻 (@TaraSetmayer) May 11, 2023

I hope @ejeancarroll’s lawyers are watching this #CNNTownhall because I’m pretty sure Trump just repeated the same defamation that he was just found liable for YESTERDAY.

— Caroline Orr Bueno, Ph.D (@RVAwonk) May 11, 2023

This isn’t a town hall, it’s a Trump klan rally #CNNTownhall

— Palmer Report (@PalmerReport) May 11, 2023

I thought this #CNNTownhall with Trump would be bad but it's much worse than I thought it would be.

The lack of follow-ups. The audience on his side. The mocking of a victim of sexual abuse. Sheesh.

— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) May 11, 2023

He repeated this lie multiple times. Not challenged once. Just an epic fail. Jesus. ##CNNTownhall https://t.co/x5ffjvZTcp

— Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) May 11, 2023

CNN is trash.

— The Hoarse Whisperer (@TheRealHoarse) May 11, 2023

He couldn’t even think up a new line for this campaign, instead falling back on this ol’ chestnut, which sold a lot of t-shirts for Dem/Progressive causes the last time. So, go on:

Trump to Kaitlan Collins as she fact checks him: “You are a nasty person”.

— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) May 11, 2023

I wouldn’t feel too bad for Kaitlan though. She’s definitely part of the problem:

she once ranked Syrian refugees by hotness for a white nationalist's website https://t.co/I5iPn9mXRr

— Sarah Jones (@onesarahjones) May 11, 2023

Whoever this “MAGS” person is loved every second of the show:

You are a Nasty Woman #CNNTownhall pic.twitter.com/Ey02YPUDiR

— MAGS (@TAftermath2020) May 11, 2023

Here’s what another one of his erudite supporters had to say about it:

Kaitlan Collins is not "moderating" the CNN Town Hall.

She is actively debating him, sounds insanely biased, and trying to make him look as bad as possible.

Trump is ripping her to shreds… and the crowd is loving him.

— Evan Kilgore 🇺🇸 (@EvanAKilgore) May 11, 2023

Speaking of t-shirts:

And for all #CNNTownhall viewers.https://t.co/9fpGexenve

— Crooked Media (@CrookedMedia) May 11, 2023

And speaking of Nasty Women (no, I haven’t seen Hillary tweet anything…yet.)

CNN should be ashamed of themselves.

They have lost total control of this “town hall” to again be manipulated into platforming election disinformation, defenses of Jan 6th, and a public attack on a sexual abuse victim.

The audience is cheering him on and laughing at the host.

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 11, 2023

CNN's humiliation is complete. https://t.co/MGE5v9vDXO

— Soledad O'Brien (@soledadobrien) May 11, 2023

When Soledad O’Brien calls you out for bad journalism, you know you done f’ed up. Great job, CNN. It was so bad that even CNN employees were embarrassed, including one who told Rolling Stone that the evening was “appalling,” lamenting that the network gave Trump “a huge platform to spew his lies.” Another called it “a fucking disgrace,” and “1000 percent a mistake [to host Trump]. No one [at CNN] is happy.”

Welcome to the 2024 election cycle, folks. Hold on to your butts.